Downtown Historic Home & Garden Tour

Cape Girardeau -- The second annual Downtown Historic Home and Garden Tour will take place Saturday, May 7 from Noon to 4 p.m. Seven homes and two bonus properties along with their yards will be showcased during the tour that was organized by Old Town Cape and sponsored by Realty Executives. The owners of each home will give a guided tour through their spaces, highlighting special features and historic facts.

The tour was organized as a fun way to promote downtown living. Downtown residential growth is an important factor in making downtown a vibrant, active district. Because of this, increasing the residential population in downtown is one of the tasks outlined in the Downtown Strategic Plan that was adopted by the City of Cape Girardeau and its partners.

Lisa Bertrand, Old Town Cape volunteer and event organizer, enjoys the event because it highlights the residential aspect and promotes interest in downtown living. "We want people to know that these homes are livable and that each one has a story to tell. There is so much energy that you feel by living downtown," Bertrand said.

"Part of the fun in having a home located downtown is the pleasure in learning the history and being able to visit neat places," commented homeowner Bob Hamblin. Hamblin also enjoys seeing the work being done to help renovate downtown homes and businesses.

The homes are located at 101 S. Pacific (Schultz Apartments), 825 Merriwether (The Faber Home), 214 N. Lorimer (The Proffer Home), 34 N. Fountain (The Dickey Home), 313 Themis (The Hamblin Home), 309 S. Spanish (The Miller Home) and 325 S. Spanish (The Glenn House). The two bonus properties -- listed with event sponsor, Realty Executives -- are located at 312 Independence and 621 N. Henderson.

Tickets for the tour are $15.00 in advance and are available at Old Town Cape, Annie Laurie's Antiques, and Spanish Street Mercantile. The day of the tours, tickets will be sold at the Glenn House and will cost $20.00.

Old Town Cape planned the event the weekend of Mother's Day to present a viable gift idea for families. For more information please visit www.oldtowncape.org or www.facebook.com/oldtowncape.

Old Town Cape is a nationally accredited Main Street Program that works to build a downtown community that cherishes its past and is an economically viable district in which the citizens of Cape Girardeau can live, work and play.

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